Zoran Corp. (Nasdaq: ZRAN) held $57.8 million in auction-rated securities (ARS) at the end of 2008, down from $85.4 million a year earlier, the company announced in 10K form filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Friday. The company made no write-offs on its ARS holdings, but sold them during the year.
Zoran added that, in October 2008, it accepted an offer from UBS AG (NYSE; SWX: UBS)), one of its investment managers, for the sale of Zoran's ARS to UBS affiliates between June 30, 2010 and July 2, 2012 at par value.
Zoran added, "In October 2008, we also received communications from Wachovia Securities indicating that Wachovia Securities expected to launch an offer to purchase ARS held by us beginning no later than June 10, 2009 and ending no later than June 30, 2009, at par value"
At the end of 2008, Zoran held $37.4 million worth of UBS ARS and $20.4 million of Wachovia ARS.
Zoran's share fell 68% during 2008. The company stated in its 10-K form that that employees exercised 113,000 options at an average strike price of $7.50 during the year, compared with the exercise of 1.7 million options at an average strike price of $13.80 in 2007.
Zoran fell 3.5% on Friday to close at $5.20, giving a market cap of $265 million.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 1, 2009
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